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The next humanoid robot might not look human at all
The next humanoid robot might not look human at all
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The next humanoid robot might not look human at all
Genesis AI, a French startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, says its robot Eno is designed ‘around human capability,’ not looks.
Genesis AI, a French startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, says its robot Eno is designed ‘around human capability,’ not looks.
by
Robert Hart
Jun 17, 2026, 9:46 AM UTC
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Image: Genesis AI
Robert Hart
is a London-based reporter at
The Verge
covering all things AI and a Senior Tarbell Fellow. Previously, he wrote about health, science and tech for
Forbes
.
The
next humanoid robot
might not have a head. It might not have legs. It might even sit on a wheeled base and fold down like a deck chair. But, as Genesis AI
puts it
, “humanoid robots don’t need to look human.”
That explains the look of Eno, the
new robot
from the French startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Genesis says Eno is designed “around human capability” rather than human appearance and is intended as a fully “general-purpose” robot rather than a machine built around a single task, like
folding laundry
. One part is still very hum…
French startup unveils non-humanoid robot as AI race moves to physical machines
French startup unveils non-humanoid robot as AI race moves to physical machines
French robotics startup Genesis AI on Tuesday unveiled "Eno", its first general-purpose robot, marking a step toward bringing advanced AI from online chatbots into physical machines. Backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the company says the wheeled robot is designed to extend human capabilities rather than mimic human form, with commercial deployments planned from late 2026.
Genesis AI Unveils Non-Humanoid Robot to Disrupt Finance Market
Genesis AI Unveils Non-Humanoid Robot to Disrupt Finance Market
Published byGlobal Banking & Finance Review
Posted on June 16, 2026
· Last updated: June 16, 2026
By Leo Marchandon and Gianluca Lo Nostro
PARIS, June 16 (Reuters) - Genesis AI, the French robotics startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled its first general-purpose robot on Tuesday, as AI capabilities expand beyond chatbots and into physical machines.
The robot, named Eno, breaks from the humanoid design usually favoured by leading manufacturers, featuring a wheeled base rather than legs, a foldable tower and hands that the company says match the form of a human hand.
Driven by advances in AI, the global robotics market is expanding rapidly, sparking debate over its impact on employment, though technical challenges, mostly about processing power and battery life, remain.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll this month showed 53% of Americans were concerned that AI would put them or someone in their household out of work.
Founded in early 2025, Genesis AI has raised $105 million (€90.6 million), one of France's largest and matching the record seed round of Mistral AI - Europe's leading AI company. Genesis AI'…
French startup unveils non-humanoid robot as AI race… - inkl
French startup unveils non-humanoid robot as AI race… - inkl
French robotics startup Genesis AI on Tuesday unveiled "Eno", its first general-purpose robot, marking a step toward bringing advanced AI from online chatbots into physical machines. Backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the company says the wheeled robot is designed to extend human capabilities rather than mimic human form, with commercial deployments planned from late 2026.
Genesis AI, theFrenchrobotics startup backed by formerGoogleCEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled its first general-purpose robot on Tuesday, asAIcapabilitiesexpand beyond chatbotsand into physical machines.
The robot, called "Eno", breaks from the humanoid design usually favoured by leading manufacturers, featuring a wheeled base rather than legs, a foldable tower and hands that the company says match the form of a human hand.
Driven by advances in AI, the global robotics market is expanding rapidly, sparking debate over its impact onemployment, though technical challenges, mostly about processing power and battery life, remain.
Read moreAnthropic disables access to top-tier AI models after US ban on foreign use
A Reuters/Ipsos poll this month …
French startup bets on non-humanoid design in crowded AI robot race ...
French startup bets on non-humanoid design in crowded AI robot race ...
Audio By Carbonatix
By Leo Marchandon and Gianluca Lo Nostro
PARIS, June 16 (Reuters) – Genesis AI, the French robotics startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled its first general-purpose robot on Tuesday, as AI capabilities expand beyond chatbots and into physical machines.
The robot, named Eno, breaks from the humanoid design usually favoured by leading manufacturers, featuring a wheeled base rather than legs, a foldable tower and hands that the company says match the form of a human hand.
Driven by advances in AI, the global robotics market is expanding rapidly, sparking debate over its impact on employment, though technical challenges, mostly about processing power and battery life, remain.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll this month showed 53% of Americans were concerned that AI would put them or someone in their household out of work.
Founded in early 2025, Genesis AI has raised $105 million (€90.6 million), one of France’s largest and matching the record seed round of Mistral AI – Europe’s leading AI company. Genesis AI’s valuation was not immediately available.
Eno runs on Genesis’ own AI …
Genesis AI Unveils Eno Robot With Wheels Over Legs
Genesis AI Unveils Eno Robot With Wheels Over Legs
16 Jun 2026, 6:28 PM UTC
4Sources
4Sources
[1]
Genesis AI bets wheels beat legs in the robot race
Genesis AI unveiled Eno, a wheeled robot with dexterous hands and a foundation model called GENE, positioning it as a cheaper, more practical alternative to humanoids. The French-American startup has raised $105 million in seed funding and plans customer deployments by the end of 2026.
On Tuesday, while the robotics industry continued pouring billions into machines that walk like humans, a startup called Genesis AI unveiled one that deliberately does not. Eno is a wheeled robot with a foldable tower, dexterous hands, and a foundation model its creators say gives it human-level manipulation.
It is a pointed rejection of the industry's prevailing assumption: that useful robots must look and move like people.
The humanoid consensus
The bet against Genesis is enormous. Figure AI holds a $39 billion private valuation and has begun deploying its Figure 03 humanoid in a Catalyst Brands warehouse, handling logistics for the parent company of JCPenney and Brooks Brothers.
Hyundai and Boston Dynamics plan to produce 30,000 Atlas human…
Corroboration
No verdict, no pronouncement. The model extracts atomic factual claims with verbatim quotes; every quote is validated against the source text and corroboration is computed by counting how many editorially-opposed blocs assert each fact. 1 fabricated/unverifiable quotes were rejected by the cite-or-die gate.
The spine · 8 facts corroborated across ≥2 opposed blocs
2×cross-perspective · 3French robotics startup Genesis AI unveiled 'Eno', its first general-purpose robot, on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
otherwestern
france24“French robotics startup Genesis AI on Tuesday unveiled "Eno", its first general-purpose robot, marking a step toward bringing advanced AI from online chatbots into physical machines.”
srnnews.com“Genesis AI, the French robotics startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled its first general-purpose robot on Tuesday, as AI capabilities expand beyond chatbots and into physical machines.”
inkl.com“French robotics startup Genesis AI on Tuesday unveiled "Eno", its first general-purpose robot, marking a step toward bringing advanced AI from online chatbots into physical machines.”
globalbankingandfinance.com“Genesis AI, the French robotics startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled its first general-purpose robot on Tuesday, as AI capabilities expand beyond chatbots and into physical machines.”
theoutpost.ai“On Tuesday, while the robotics industry continued pouring billions into machines that walk like humans, a startup called Genesis AI unveiled one that deliberately does not. Eno is a wheeled robot with a foldable tower, dexterous hands, and a foundation model its creators say gives it human-level manipulation.”
2×cross-perspective · 3Genesis AI is backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
otherwestern
france24“Backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the company says the wheeled robot is designed to extend human capabilities rather than mimic human form, with commercial deployments planned from late 2026.”
theverge.com“Genesis AI, a French startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, says its robot Eno is designed ‘around human capability,’ not looks.”
srnnews.com“Genesis AI, the French robotics startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled its first general-purpose robot on Tuesday, as AI capabilities expand beyond chatbots and into physical machines.”
inkl.com“Genesis AI, theFrenchrobotics startup backed by formerGoogleCEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled its first general-purpose robot on Tuesday, asAIcapabilitiesexpand beyond chatbotsand into physical machines.”
globalbankingandfinance.com“Genesis AI, the French robotics startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, unveiled its first general-purpose robot on Tuesday, as AI capabilities expand beyond chatbots and into physical machines.”
theoutpost.ai“Genesis AI unveiled Eno, a wheeled robot with dexterous hands and a foundation model called GENE, positioning it as a cheaper, more practical alternative to humanoids. The French-American startup has raised $105 million in seed funding and plans customer deployments by the end of 2026.”
2×cross-perspective · 2Genesis AI designed Eno to extend human capabilities rather than mimic human form.
otherwestern
france24“Backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the company says the wheeled robot is designed to extend human capabilities rather than mimic human form, with commercial deployments planned from late 2026.”
theverge.com“Genesis AI, a French startup backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, says its robot Eno is designed ‘around human capability,’ not looks.”
theoutpost.ai“It is a pointed rejection of the industry's prevailing assumption: that useful robots must look and move like people.”
2×cross-perspective · 2Commercial deployments of Eno are planned from late 2026.
otherwestern
france24“Backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the company says the wheeled robot is designed to extend human capabilities rather than mimic human form, with commercial deployments planned from late 2026.”
theoutpost.ai“The French-American startup has raised $105 million in seed funding and plans customer deployments by the end of 2026.”
1×cross-perspective · 2Eno is a wheeled robot with a foldable tower and hands that match the form of a human hand.
other
srnnews.com“The robot, named Eno, breaks from the humanoid design usually favoured by leading manufacturers, featuring a wheeled base rather than legs, a foldable tower and hands that the company says match the form of a human hand.”
globalbankingandfinance.com“The robot, named Eno, breaks from the humanoid design usually favoured by leading manufacturers, featuring a wheeled base rather than legs, a foldable tower and hands that the company says match the form of a human hand.”
theoutpost.ai“Eno is a wheeled robot with a foldable tower, dexterous hands, and a foundation model its creators say gives it human-level manipulation.”
1×cross-perspective · 2Genesis AI has raised $105 million (€90.6 million) in seed funding.
other
srnnews.com“Founded in early 2025, Genesis AI has raised $105 million (€90.6 million), one of France’s largest and matching the record seed round of Mistral AI – Europe’s leading AI company.”
globalbankingandfinance.com“Founded in early 2025, Genesis AI has raised $105 million (€90.6 million), one of France's largest and matching the record seed round of Mistral AI - Europ”
theoutpost.ai“The French-American startup has raised $105 million in seed funding and plans customer deployments by the end of 2026.”
1×broadly confirmedGenesis AI was founded in early 2025.
other
srnnews.com“Founded in early 2025, Genesis AI has raised $105 million (€90.6 million), one of France’s largest and matching the record seed round of Mistral AI – Europe’s leading AI company.”
globalbankingandfinance.com“Founded in early 2025, Genesis AI has raised $105 million (€90.6 million), one of France's largest and matching the record seed round of Mistral AI - Europ”
1×broadly confirmedA Reuters/Ipsos poll this month showed 53% of Americans were concerned that AI would put them or someone in their household out of work.
other
srnnews.com“A Reuters/Ipsos poll this month showed 53% of Americans were concerned that AI would put them or someone in their household out of work.”
globalbankingandfinance.com“A Reuters/Ipsos poll this month showed 53% of Americans were concerned that AI would put them or someone in their household out of work.”
Single-source · 2 — reported by one bloc only (uncorroborated)
The global robotics market is expanding rapidly due to advances in AI.
srnnews.com
Figure AI holds a $39 billion private valuation and has begun deploying its Figure 03 humanoid in a Catalyst Brands warehouse.
theoutpost.ai
Framing · 5 — loaded language surfaced (spin shown, not adopted)
theverge.com
“The next humanoid robot might not look human at all”
→ The next humanoid robot might not look human at all
theoutpost.ai
“It is a pointed rejection of the industry's prevailing assumption: that useful robots must look and move like people.”
→ Genesis AI's design choice contradicts the industry assumption that robots must resemble humans.
theoutpost.ai
“positioning it as a cheaper, more practical alternative to humanoids.”
→ Genesis AI positions Eno as a cheaper and more practical alternative to humanoid robots.
srnnews.com
“one of France’s largest and matching the record seed round of Mistral AI – Europe’s leading AI company.”
→ Genesis AI’s seed funding is among the largest in France and matches Mistral AI’s record.
theoutpost.ai
“The humanoid consensus”
→ The robotics industry generally assumes humanoid form is necessary for useful robots.